TOW Emily Returns
by JenFromTheRing
Summary: Emily turns up in the last place Ross expected to see her - at the University - and she's not making the coffee...
1. Default Chapter

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TOW Emily Returns

Ross and Rachel had quickly settled into a routine after she had changed her mind and gotten off the plane. They had found a larger flat, Rachel had found a new job and they were getting used to seeing themselves as a family.

There had been a lot of changes, with Monica and Chandler moving to the suburbs, Phoebe and Mike making another move, and Joey going away. Ross had also started finding that he needed to spend more time at work, and after his initial resistance to this idea, found that this worked well too. The trouble was, he was running out of things to say to Rachel, and much of the time that she had was taken up with Emma. Which was fine, but he didn't feel very necessary at home. Emma looked to Rachel first, that was only natural.

Professor Slattery, the head of the department had called him in to his office one day and said,

I'm going to need your help in supervising the foreign PhD student.' Ross had known for some time that there would be a PhD student on exchange for six months from Cambridge, but he hadn't had much interest. PhD students came and went, and because he had no direct involvement with them, they didn't register. His teaching responsibilities for the undergraduates — even now there was a huge pile of marking from the first years. He didn't look forward to that. Some of them had probably spelt dinosaur, dinosore.

At the news that he would be needed for the PhD student, his attention was piqued. PhD students, like Masters students and other graduate students, could sometimes be of assistance in projects. Sometimes you could even have a decent professional conversation with them. If he was going to be asked to help out with the student, then he might be able to get some benefits, even if he or she was only going to be around for six months.

Professor Slattery said,

I'm going to be away lot over the next year, and I'd just like to make sure someone keeps an eye on this one.'

Why's that?' Ross asked.

We have the makings of a good exchange program, as I'm sure you're aware. Our students get treated very well in Cambridge, and I'd like to make sure that their students get treated well here. Cambridge could send their students to many other places — I'm hoping to make sure that as far as the East Coast goes, this is their choice.'

Okay,' Ross said.

I've put her in the room next to yours. She's arriving this afternoon. Be nice, show her around and then let her get on with it.'

Sure,' Ross said, wondering what this PhD student was called and what she was studying. Professor Slattery was not a details man.

Nearing his office, he almost crashed into a young woman on her way out of the room next door. Someone clearing out that office probably, Ross thought, and then did a double take. It couldn't possibly be — what was she doing here? Emily?

She was staring back at him.

You,' Ross stared. What are you doing here?' His ex wife from a disastrous, short live marriage, whom he had thought he would never see again. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her face was thinner than it used to be.

I'm the PhD student from Cambridge.'

You're supposed to come this afternoon,' Ross said. Or not at all, preferably. How could she possibly be the PhD student from Cambridge? This had to be some very odd practical joke.

No-one's ever complained about me being early before,' Emily said.

How did you get to do a PhD?'

I'm not stupid Ross,' Emily said, eyes narrowing.

Yes but how — you didn't have a degree or anything,' Ross asked. She had just been flitting around from job to job, jobs that hadn't required any kind of formal qualification. Jobs that hadn't interested her much — although in the short time they'd known each other, they hadn't been talking about her career prospects.

Well I got a degree, did honours and then enrolled in the PhD.'

And why did you come here?' he demanded.

Well my PhD involves a comparison between new and old world dinosaurs so I wanted to go on exchange. Professor Shaw decided that I should come here, since Professor Slattery is also interested in old and new comparisons.'

I didn't choose to come to this particular university, that was Prof Shaw's choice,' Emily said pointedly.

Did you know I was here?'

Yes. I didn't think they'd put me next door to you though. Still, I don't expect we'll need to have much to do with each other.' She turned back into the somewhat bare office she'd been allotted. Annoyed, Ross said,

Think again. I'm sharing supervision of you.' She wheeled around.

I don't like it any more than you do,' Ross said. She looked at him in horror for a while and then said,

Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll be replicating the methods I used in Cambridge — it's all worked out. You won't really need to supervise me all that much. Or at all really.' She closed the door on him.


	2. Ross Doesn't Tell Rachel

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Ross doesn't tell Rachel

Ross didn't know what to do. He went back to his office and closed the door, trying to think. He was stuck in an office next door to Emily for six months — not only that, he had to supervise her. That meant seeking her out, checking up on her work. Talking to her. Getting involved with her. Caring about whether she did well or not, because her performance reflected on him. He shook his head. How could he do that? But he had to, once in a while.

Perhaps he could go to Professor Slattery and tell him — tell him that Emily was his ex wife so he couldn't supervise? But it wasn't as though he was responsible for marking any of her papers or grading her in any way. Supervision meant making sure he was available to her, making sure she wasn't wasting her time. Making sure they looked good to the Cambridge people.

So maybe she would be the one to complain about being supervised by him? But whether she complained or he did, everyone would know about their past. People with long memories would remember the story, which tended to make him look bad — and ridiculous — in the retelling. Then there had been the fallout from the divorce — which had led to his current position, so perhaps not all bad — but that still made him look bad. He would not be able to say anything sharp to anyone without them thinking he was going to go mad.

As for Emily, she might not like people to know about her link with him — she'd been snotty enough about it. He felt a sense of injury at her reaction. He hadn't expected her to be like that — he'd expect her to have fond memories of him, in spite of everything because he was a great guy, even if he did say so himself. If he'd imagined a meeting, he had thought that well he had never really thought of it — but perhaps that she'd want to see him, like she'd said in her last phone call. And what about that? He hadn't been looking for a ring and he hadn't noticed one.

He shook his head. He had no interest in Emily's husband. Whoever that might be. He could only hope that she was as well prepared on her methods as she claimed so that he'd be able to have as little to do with her as possible.

He managed to avoid her for the rest of the day, even though he was aware, the whole time, of her presence in the next room, unbearably close. Every now and then, he heard the sound of her voice, slightly less English, if that made any sense, without being in any way more American. People from around the department were dropping by to say hello.

At home, Rachel asked him about the new PhD student.

What?' Ross asked, unpleasantly surprised. What did she bring that up for?

You said last week that you were getting a new PhD student from Cambridge.' If she knew that, he must have told her. He probably had. It was only when he talked about people at work that she was able to follow what he was talking about. Anything to do with his work and her attention would wander, unable to follow him.

Funny you remember that,' Ross said.

Well it's the only thing I can understand out of the things you say about work,' Rachel said. So did he arrive?' Interesting that she assumed the student was male.

Er yes,' Ross said playing for time. He would then begin by saying that the student was female and thenWhat's his name?'

Scott Drury,' Ross said. Did he just say Scott Drury? Aside from the fact that he had no idea who that person was, or why he'd seized on that name, he had just avoided telling her who the PhD student really was.

That's good. Maybe you can invite him round for dinner one night, maybe if we have your department head over.' He knew that Rachel didn't really mean it — the proposed dinner for the department head had been mooted several times, limited by the fact that Rachel really couldn't cook. But the idea of inviting Emily home made Ross jump.

No, absolutely not.'

Oh come on Ross, don't be mean,' Rachel said. She didn't really care about the student but somehow, him saying no so emphatically made her want to insisted. This guy's alone in a strange country. Well it's not that strange, but it's a long way from home and a home cooked meal.'

You? Do a home cooked meal?'

Okay I'll order in,' Rachel said, But it would be nice to be friendly to this guy. He might be feeling a bit lost.'

He's been to New York before. He knows his way around.'

Oh well, that's good,' Rachel said. You don't seem to like him. Did he annoy you?'

Yes, yes he was very annoying. I just can't stand his accent and I'm going to have to listen to it for six months.'

Oh, Ross,' Rachel said, amused.

Yeah, and — and he's got no manners, none at all. You wouldn't want to meet him. I won't let him meet you, no way.'

Okay, Ross,' Rachel laughed, You've made your point. He'd made his point by telling lies — but hopefully, it wouldn't matter.


	3. She's Always There

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She's Always There

Ross had managed to avoid Emily for several days before he realised that he was the one doing the avoiding. He seemed to be the one who wouldn't come out of his office if she was out in the hall talking to someone. He was the one who timed his departure to be after hers every day so that they would never catch the same elevator. He was the one who didn't go into the common room.

He realised this as he was walking past the common room, yet again. He had heard Emily's voice and had turned away, even though he really wanted a cup of coffee. But why shouldn't he get a coffee, he asked himself, and walked in.

You should have been there,' someone was saying to Emily. Ewan Mulvaney was sitting near Emily in one of the armchairs that surrounded the central low table. He was leaning towards her in the way that Ross knew meant that he wanted to chat her up. Every new female in the department got this kind of attention from Ewan, sooner or later, so it wasn't as though Emily was being treated as special in any way. I just can't believe he didn't show you that,' Ewan said.

Well I wasn't here for very long,' Emily said, as Ross started making his coffee.

Can you believe that, Ross?' Ewan asked in a loud show offy voice. When Emily was here being shown around by her boyfriend, he didn't take her to the Guggenheim.' Ross froze.

Well, Ewan,' Emily said with an unconvincing laugh, I can find the Guggenheim by myself.' Ross felt a little less tense.

You're going to catch up with your old flame while you're here?' Ross nearly dropped his coffee cup.

No,' Emily said firmly.

'That bad huh?'

'That irrelevant,' she said. Oh thank you, Ross thought, annoyed, thank you very much.

'So do you know anyone else you can show you around?'

'I don't need anyone to show me around. I can get a bus or a train by myself without anyone's help.' It had been a long time since he'd known her, and that for a short time only, but there was something in the way she said that that made Ross think that Ewan was really annoying her, even though the words were expressed mildly.

I can take you,' Ewan said, having missed the verbal cue.

Thank you,' Emily said. Ross knew how enigmatic that Thank you' could be.

Great,' Ewan said, How about this Saturday?'

I'm going to stay with my uncle this weekend,' Emily said coolly, But another time would be nice.'

I'll check my diary and get back to you,' Ewan said, and left the room, leaving Ross and Emily together. She gave him a brief glance, and took a sip from her cup.

Looks like you've got someone to take you around,' Ross said. Emily shrugged. What's the matter with him?' He knew that apart from being a little pushy, Ewan was inclined to steal ideas, but there was no way that Emily would know that. That was probably something that he should warn her aboutI just don't want to get involved in anything,' she said. It's just not worth it when I'm going away again.' She looked at him steadily. I learned my lesson last time.'

'It wasn't that bad,' he said, feeling injured.

'Yes it was,' Emily said. She got up and walked out of the room. She had been the one to leave, but he didn't feel at all comfortable.

Ross hadn't been paying attention to the time when he realised he was due home nearly an hour ago. He had been so absorbed in his work that he'd forgotten. Rachel seemed to have forgotten too - there had been no call from her - but he realised then that he had knocked the phone off the hook. There was a voice message from her and he called her back, only to get the answermachine. They seemed to have a lot of phone conversations that way, disjointed pieces of dialogue marooned on different machines.

'Sweetie, I'm coming home now, I just lost track of time.' Now that he had remembered to go home, he couldn't wait.

He bundled up his things and headed for the lobby. It was pouring with rain and he opened his bag to get out his fold up umbrella. As he closed his bag, he noticed Emily walk past him to the door, huddled in her coat. She had stopped to survey the rain, the way a person does when she has no umbrella, calculating the distance to the next shelter, wondering if the rain was easing off any

Ross joined her on the doorstep, putting up his umbrella. She gave him a slight sideways glance, and started off on her own. He didn't know why. Perhaps he was naturally really polite - he didn't know. He knew afterwards that he had acted without thinking. He ran after her.

'Here,' he said, catching up to her and partly putting the umbrella over her head.

'What?'

'Get some shelter.'

'I'm all right really,' she said, walking a little faster.

'You don't want to get your feet wet,' he said, walking faster too.

'If they get wet, I can dry them myself,' she said. She slipped, and he put out a hand to steady her. They walked to the subway entrance in silence. As he put down his umbrella she said, 'Thank you,' and disappeared into the crowds descending to the subway.

At home, he got in trouble for not calling, although he pointed out that he'd left a message on the answermachine.

'Don't make a habit of being late,' Rachel said when they'd finished their argument. 'I don't see enough of you as it is.'

'I'm sorry sweetie.'

'And Emma doesn't either.' Emma was already in bed. He needed to see more of her if she was going to bond with him properly. He'd make sure not to be late tomorrow. He wasn't changing his behaviour for Emily any more.


	4. A Nuisance

**A Nuisance**

The next day, he resolved to carry out his resolution of not changing his behaviour. He reminded himself that she had once made demands that he should change who he should see, his home and his furniture, which proved impossible. Oh, he'd said the wrong name, but he couldn't live like that and in the end, they couldn't continue with the marriage because She Wouldn't Trust Him. That, as well as the whole failure of the marriage had hurt so much at the time, although of course, it wasn't an issue any more.

That day, he came across another reason for doing something about her.

'Are you having problems with your student?' Professor Slattery asked Ross. He had called Ross in to his office to talk to him about what was going to happen while he was away.

'No, not at all,' Ross said surprised. He wondered where that had come from.

'It's just been noted that the two of you don't seem to have hit it off,' he said. 'You seem to be avoiding her from what I've heard. I'm just wondering what your supervisory relationship with her is. If it's not working out, I'll have to reallocate her to someone else.' That would solve all his problems, he realised. There would be no need to have anything to do with her at all. He could just act like she wasn't there at all. But there was a subtext to Professor Slattery's words. He was a busy man. He'd be going overseas in a few days. He did not want to be put to the trouble of reallocating a student at this stage. Ross would be letting him down if he said things were not working out.

'Well, she's just settling in,' Ross said. 'We haven't had many discussions about what she's going to be doing here. But there's not problem. I've got no problem with her. Why would I?'

'Have you spoken to her at all about her project.'

'Oh yes,' Ross said.

'That's good,' Professor Slattery said, already moving on to another topic.

That made Ross realise that he had to establish a professional relationship with Emily and that might mean touching on some issues from the past, just to get them out of the way. Then they could move on. When he was sure that no-one else was in her office, he knocked on her door and walked in.

'Emily, we need to talk about your project.'

'There's no need. I've put an outline of my plans in your letter box,' she said, looking up from the desk where papers were spread out in front of her. 'You can let me know what you think in writing.' She could hardly make it clearer that she wasn't seeking him out, and he felt, for undefined reasons, offended.

'No, I mean, we need to talk about us,' Ross insisted.

'What?' Emily hadn't been looking at him until now. She stared at him.

'You, you know. Us.'

'What "us" is this, Ross?' Emily asked.

'You and me. The past. Can I sit down?' She frowned, but nodded, so he pulled up a chair.

'I don't understand. The last time I wanted to talk, you chose not to call me back. Unless you didn't get the message? Maybe whatshername erased it?' He felt a sting of annoyance at her reference to Rachel but since her guess had been correct, even though the erasure had not been the whole story, he felt self conscious about taking her up on it. Beside, he did not want the conversation between them to degenerate into a sideshow about Rachel.

'No. I mean yes. I mean, I got the message.' That was the main thing.

'And you chose not to call,' Emily said flatly.

'Yes.' It was the only answer he could give.

'So that's the end of it,' she said. She stood up and turning her back on him, began arranging things on her shelves, in the sort of mindless rearrangement activity that serves only as a distraction.

'Okay, yes, yes I know that was the end,' Ross said.

'So there's nothing to talk about. We've gone our separate ways and our lives have nothing to do with each other any more,' Emily said, stacking the few books she had upside down. Ross suppressed an urge to get up and turn them up the right way.

'But they do, now that you're here. We need to talk how we're going to deal with each other now. We can't pretend that there's nothing in the past,' Ross said. Emily started rearranging some of the models of fossils that were on the shelf. Someone had left them behind years ago and they went with the office along with the rest of the furniture.

'I don't see why not. The past isn't the slightest bit relevant to my PhD,' she said emphatically, turning to face him. They stared at each other, registering what she'd just said. She had in her hand a cast of a Trilobite. She looked at it, blushed, and put it back on the shelf. 'If it's more recent than 65 million years ago, I don't want to know about it,' she said. She returned to her desk and sat down.

'That's very cute Emily, but the more recent past affects us both. We still have to figure out a way to work together.'

'I'd have thought that was perfectly obvious. I do my work, you do yours. As a matter of fact, I'd like to get on with my work now.'

'No but I mean,' he began, just as his phone rang. He answered without thinking, 'Rachel!' And seeing Emily's face across the desk, he felt as though he'd just been caught cheating.


	5. Duty Calls

**Duty Calls**

'Rachel, sweetie,' Ross stumbled.

'Is there something wrong?' Rachel at the same time that Emily said,

'Would you take that call somewhere else please?'

'N-no nothing's wrong sweetie,' he said to Rachel. He wondered if any of Emily's voice had carried through to her and if Rachel would recognise it. He knew – or remembered – or at least he didn't remember Rachel being around Emily much, so he didn't know if recognition was likely.

'You sound anxious,' Rachel said.

'Do you mind leaving my office?' Emily said, annoyed.

'Is someone there?' Rachel asked.

'Just a minute sweetie,' Ross said, covering the phone with his hand, and then to Emily, 'This won't take long.'

'Is that what you say to her in bed?' Emily taunted, unable to resist the cheap shot.

'I'll have you know,' Ross began, getting heated, 'I've got great staying power. I know you never complained.' Emily narrowed her eyes.

'I'm complaining now. Do your domestics somewhere else. I've got work to do, and we've finished our conversation.' Ross let himself be shooed out of the room and went into his own office, shutting the door and sitting down. He spoke into the phone.

'Rach?'

'I guess I'm still here,' Rachel said, sounding irked. 'I don't have anything better to do with my day than hang on the phone waiting for you to finish whatever it is you think is so important.'

'Wait!' Ross exclaimed, suddenly realising something. 'Hang up, I'll call you back.' He disconnected the phone and dialled the home number. He had to do it twice because Rachel was too slow on her end in hanging up.

'What did you do that for?' Rachel asked.

'The phone bill. You should have called the office phone, not the cell phone. We can't afford to run up huge phone bills.'

'Well sorry,' Rachel said, not sounding sorry at all. 'And I'm sorry I'm not as important as your work.' Feeling self conscious about Emily, and the fact that he was hiding her existence from Rachel, Ross was unusually sensitive to Rachel's feelings.

'I'm sorry sweetie.'

'That's the fourth time you've called me that. What have you done?' Rachel demanded.

'Nothing!' Ross exclaimed. That was true, anyway, and what was more, the idea that he might do anything that Rachel could have cause, genuine cause not imaginary cause, to complain about it was unthinkable. 'I was just talking to the PhD student.' He hoped that Rachel wouldn't ask for the name again because he couldn't just then remember the fake name he'd used.

'That didn't sound like a man,' Rachel said.

'The cleaner was there too.' That would serve Emily right. Why couldn't she be a cleaner, somewhere else, and not cause him this trouble?

'The cleaner?' Rachel asked in disbelief. 'What did this have to do with the cleaner?'

'W-well exactly! Exactly! That is exactly what I said. It had absolutely nothing to do with the cleaner, but she was there, in the room, cleaning! And we didn't want her there. Me and – and Scott.' He'd remembered a first name. He wrote it down on a post it note for future reference, hating the situation as he did so. How did it come about that he had to lie? Why did Emily have to come here? Why did Emily have to be involved in palaeontology? Why wasn't she happy doing what she did before, when he'd known her? He couldn't remember what she'd done for a living then, but it was unambitious, unremarkable. 'So we had to get rid of her.'

'I don't care about the cleaning woman,' Rachel said flatly. 'I wanted to talk to you about Emma.'

'What about Emma?'

'I took her to the doctor today.'

'What? What did you take her to the doctor for?' Ross asked, surprised.

'If you'd been at home on time just once this week you might be aware that she hasn't been well. She's had a cold and she keeps pulling at her ears. The doctor wants her to see a specialist.'

'What can a specialist do about the common cold?' Ross asked. The first time Emma had been sick he'd been scared, but there had been so many colds and other childhood illnesses since then.

'There's something wrong with her ears. She gets fluid in them,' Rachel said.

'In the bath? I get water in my ears in the shower all the time,' Ross said.

'No, it's a medical condition. It affects her hearing and she gets pain in her ears. The doctor wants her to see a specialist to see if the problem can be fixed.'

'Oh,' Ross said. 'When is she going to see the specialist?'

'In two weeks,' Rachel said.

'Two weeks!' Ross exclaimed, 'What do you mean two weeks?'

'That was the soonest I could get,' Rachel said. She had already called other mothers from the children's playgroup and she had heard that she had done well to get an appointment so soon.

'You can't have told them how serious it is!' Ross exclaimed, 'Emma could go deaf.'

'Well, why don't you call a few specialists, see if you can do better, if you can find the time,' Rachel said, severely annoyed now. She hung up on him and Ross tried redialling with no luck. He slammed the receiver down. She wasn't being fair. It wasn't his fault if he was busy – he was trying to make a secure future for the three of them, and he needed advancement. However he was in no mood to do any more work that day, so he packed up and left.


End file.
